Dayle Haddon: Education for the Girl-Child First

Dayle Haddon is a Canadian model and actress, above all a humanitarian. Dayle was born 26 May 1948 and was raised in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Haddon speaks both English and French. As a child, she was enrolled in dancing classes to develop her physique, and she performed well enough to become a member of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens at 13, and was chosen Miss Montreal at 18.

Dayle, who was born naturally beautiful, lived an exemplary life of encouraging women to look beautiful irrespective of their age. In this regard, she is credited as an author of Ageless Beauty: A Woman’s Guide to Lifelong Beauty and Well-Being. Haddon is Jewish.

In September 2007, Dayle traveled to the Darfur region of Sudan, where she interviewed women and children in internally displaced peoples (IDP) camps over a five day period. The visit included briefings from UNICEF staff, as well as visits to UNICEF-supported child-friendly centers, water points, health centers, schools and income generation projects.

Additionally in her travels with UNICEF, Dayle has also toured hospitals and health facilities throughout Angola, and visited women and children in Bolivia. Upon her return from Bolivia, Dayle blogged on The Huffington Post about her visit and the changes UNICEF is seeking to bring about in fighting poverty, HIV/AIDS, and child abuse and in providing education.

Dayle’s real humanitarian journey began when in her career in the fashion and beauty industry. She travelled extensively to South America, Africa, and the Middle East where she came face-to-face with women from different cultures who shared horrific daily struggles. Empathizing with the stories she heard, Haddon realized quality education had the power to provide women with a chance to escape poverty and elevate their own voices, and in 2008, she founded WomenOne,(an NGO) designed to create an international support system for women, by women. With a focus on education and holistic programming, WomenOne partners with institutions and community-based organizations to give girls the resources necessary to push back against financial and cultural barriers.

Dayle has this to say herself, “I was in Angola visiting a rural clinic. Women had walked all night with babies strapped to their backs to reach the only medical facility for miles around. A doctor in the clinic pulled me aside and asked if I could help him. They needed two microscopes to do their work better. I assured him I would help, and gave his request to the head of our team. They told me the problem was too small for them. At that moment a light bulb went off, and I felt it was not too small for those women who had walked all night. I realized there was room for a smaller organization to work alongside the larger ones to make the best possible impact, and the idea for WomenOne, focused on global education for girls, was born”

Dayle Haddon found like-minds in the course of helping women and girl-child globally with Amy E. Hepburn, Gamze Ates, Susan Smith Ellis, Shayna Haddon, Carol J. Hamilton, and Amanda Gray Meral. Together in WomenOne, they form policies and programs that touch and shape the lives of women and the girl-child globally.

Through WomenOne, Haddon has partnered with Free the Child, an international charity, to provide scholarships for girls’ education in Kenya. Through her organization, she has raised and donated more than $150,000 for one of Free the Children all-girls secondary schools.

Dayle said this about what will be the focus of WomenOne in 2017. “To get more girls off the streets, and set up more programs – especially literacy programs and more competitive STEM [science, technology, engineering, math] programs. To reach out to more organizations, and bring more people on board. We currently partner with LVMH, the Canadian government, Apple, and L’Oreal, as well as a few smaller companies, but a big part of our mission is to bring new people in the arena, particularly those in the beauty industry, in aims of reducing the number of girls out of school globally. We really are one – this planet is getting smaller and smaller. We are united and connected, and we have to do this together”